surge vs paid for synths

[Halonmusic]

^ i know right? Phonec is excellent for pads

[EvilDragon]

there will soon (I guess next month?) be a new Surge version with an improved GUI (the worst aspect of Surge, again IMO)

No, the GUI in Surge XT 1.0 won't change a lot. The big GUI overhaul is slated for the version after, so next year. But even then, the principal aspect of what Surge's GUI is about (minimize tabbing, everything at your fingertips, not a lot of context switching) will stay. It's just that layout will be improved and better represent signal flow, etc. It should make more sense. But it will still feel like Surge - that's very important.

I gave it a download and I remember why I stopped using it. The UI… not the best.

Style-wise or layout-wise, or both? I'd kinda like to pick your brains on the topic and show you a few things. PM me if you want

IMO the way modulation works in Surge is a stroke of genius.

[core18]

Phonec can do pads perfectly fine..
Maybe stick with the basics for now and learn how to get as much as possible out just a couple of free synths.
Try some free ones and check how those feel. Vital is a good one.
I would say that Surge isn't the most obvious choice for a beginner, imho

have you made any good pads with phonec ? try out my free pack on here ( I'm not a sound designer there all hit and miss ) and please send me any if you have some there's not many sound packs avalable to see what people have done , even the unfinished has made packs and there boards of canada ish , i use phonec more for basic poly synth sounds or weird sounds arpeggiated sounds etc not lish pads please show me some lush pads warm and fat u have made cheers pal.

Phonec is awesome for pads, its probably what it's strongest at. I don't understand your comment at all. The factory library is full of them.

Surge is definitely a complex beast, so can do just about anything. Not the easiest to get to know.

I'm really looking forward to an updated GUI for it.

tbh its not ,even the sound designer ambietica , told me once he couldn't get a lush pad out of it , now it can do ambient background pads and ambiences really well but are you telling me you can get a warm rich lush pad out of it ? can you upload one one ? don't get me wrong i really love that its my fav synth but i think basses and polys and weird sounds are its strongest selling point
i have uploded a single pad patch i made that i like could you show me a big one you have made cheers

[core18]

^ i know right? Phonec is excellent for pads

can we share some patches the ones in the main bank are ambient background pads
i like those kinda pads but I'm talking warm large pads
as i said there not loads of banks out there so if you could show me one you made that would be awesome cheers

[core18]

phonec is a low fi kinda sound not the same as synthmaster is it at all

[baconpaul]

this is not exactly true. The next version of surge will re-implement the current GUI in JUCE and add features but the GUI will be basically the same. The version after that - which is a 2022 project - will have substantially bigger changes.

IS there a new version of Surge coming out soon?

We plan on a release late in 2021 yeah. Will be patch compatible with 19 but will have a new vst id

[Biome_Digital]

this is not exactly true. The next version of surge will re-implement the current GUI in JUCE and add features but the GUI will be basically the same. The version after that - which is a 2022 project - will have substantially bigger changes.

IS there a new version of Surge coming out soon?

We plan on a release late in 2021 yeah. Will be patch compatible with 19 but will have a new vst id

Sounds good. Is there somewhere I can get info about the forthcoming features? Maybe a beta version when ready?

[baconpaul]

this is not exactly true. The next version of surge will re-implement the current GUI in JUCE and add features but the GUI will be basically the same. The version after that - which is a 2022 project - will have substantially bigger changes.

IS there a new version of Surge coming out soon?

We plan on a release late in 2021 yeah. Will be patch compatible with 19 but will have a new vst id

Sounds good. Is there somewhere I can get info about the forthcoming features? Maybe a beta version when ready?

We make nightlies of surge available on each and every commit and keep both a full GitHub issue list up to date and a change log for the next version relatively up to date yes. So you can grab current candidate or the next version any time you want. Some days we have 5 candidates or more but the version is in the tool

[Halonmusic]

^ i know right? Phonec is excellent for pads

can we share some patches the ones in the main bank are ambient background pads
i like those kinda pads but I'm talking warm large pads
as i said there not loads of banks out there so if you could show me one you made that would be awesome cheers

I suppose i could make some for you if that is what you want? Also, it is very easy to make your own sounds though.

[wwjd]

A personal PRO / CON

Surge is amazing, does tons of things, sounds great, and the team here and outside have done fantastic with the work on it.

It's far too much for me. I guess I just prefer a simpler interface, and don't need so many features. I've tried to tweak it and felt like I got nowhere and didn't feel like learnin' something complex to get a sound.

I totally recommend it as a great free synth, but would never recommend it to some one new and learning synths because of the interface.

Just my opinion. Sounds like a couple others are in that boat also.

[core18]

^ i know right? Phonec is excellent for pads

can we share some patches the ones in the main bank are ambient background pads
i like those kinda pads but I'm talking warm large pads
as i said there not loads of banks out there so if you could show me one you made that would be awesome cheers

I suppose i could make some for you if that is what you want? Also, it is very easy to make your own sounds though.

download that patch i uploaded i can make my own
but phonec is a lo fi synth for those distorted out of tune poly and weird sounds , i want to see how powerful your pads are or if there the same as the ones by the unfinshed or in the factory bank or like the ones i can make
they all sound nice and retro ambient and different
but they cant compete with a lush sounding clean wide big pad on another synth , ive seen a great sound designer try and i have tried so i wanna see what u can make , i like phonec for weird sounds and out of tune poly keys and leads
and thin ambient background pads and weird texture things
it cant do a pad like synthmaster i really would like to see it because im not a good sound designer but i thought the unfinshed was ?
i love that synth so much but i want a synth that can give me a large filmscore pad or any sound , what phonec does is great but its not versatile ( not yet )

[core18]

A personal PRO / CON

Surge is amazing, does tons of things, sounds great, and the team here and outside have done fantastic with the work on it.

It's far too much for me. I guess I just prefer a simpler interface, and don't need so many features. I've tried to tweak it and felt like I got nowhere and didn't feel like learnin' something complex to get a sound.

I totally recommend it as a great free synth, but would never recommend it to some one new and learning synths because of the interface.

Just my opinion. Sounds like a couple others are in that boat also.

i like surge im just waiting on my synthmaster licence , i have phonec and synthmaster you cant need more than that for synths lol thats enough isnt it , pretty much covers it .

[core18]

tbh i dont think it matters if your a beginner or not like you can spend a week watching tutorials about a certain synth and get the hang of it , i think its more learning what things do on a synth , and what really bugged me more in the beginning was the layout of some synths can be different and not help you when you move to other synths , like i really didny like reason studios europa in that respect coming from
thor.
learning things like how an lfo can modulate stuff an adsr makes a patch onto a pad or a poly etc these things can be a pain in the beginning to start learning on a simple synth when you move to a synth with features that the learner synth dont have , in my opion dont start on a comple shitty basic synth learn one that will have controls most synths have and the one you really like.

ps i have ableton live intro phonec and synthmaster and minimonsta now and feel i have too much lol

[Biome_Digital]

A lot of free, and even many not free synths have that "software" sound - thin, weak, 2d. I can tell you now that Surge is NOT one of them! It can make some very big and powerful sounds. You just have to be careful programming the sounds because there are so many options that it can end up losing it's beef. If you approach Surge with some analogness in mind, you can put it up against paid for sure. I think it's a bit like Zebra, Pigments, Hive, Serum, Dune.

[baconpaul]

A personal PRO / CON

Surge is amazing, does tons of things, sounds great, and the team here and outside have done fantastic with the work on it.

It's far too much for me. I guess I just prefer a simpler interface, and don't need so many features. I've tried to tweak it and felt like I got nowhere and didn't feel like learnin' something complex to get a sound.

I totally recommend it as a great free synth, but would never recommend it to some one new and learning synths because of the interface.

Just my opinion. Sounds like a couple others are in that boat also.

I think this is the most valid critique of surge. It does a lot. A lot a lot. I mean one of the oscillators is itself an entire multi model eurorack module. And that’s part of the flexibility and power but it is definitely way harder to grapple with as a first time user. The interface is a very fast way to navigate the depth but it doesn’t lay bare a simple path either.

That said the payoff if you spend a bit of time with the manual can be very high as a result. But that initial activation is definitely required for many folks.